Example embodiments of the inventive concepts relate to a multimedia codec, and more particularly, to a multimedia codec for efficiently encoding a still image, an application processor including the same, and a method of operating the application processor.
International standardization of video coding has been led by a Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) under International Organization for Standardization/International Electro-technical Commission (ISO/IEC) and a Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) under International Telecommunications Union Telecommunication Standardization sector (ITU-T). MPEG and VCEG organized a Joint Video Team (JVT) and completed the international video coding standard, i.e., H.264/Advanced Video Coding (AVC). Unlike existing video codecs such as MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.261, and H.263; H.264/ACV has introduced variable block size motion estimation, ¼-pixel motion vector resolution, multiple reference picture motion estimation, and so on, thereby providing excellent compression capability as compared to existing codecs.
Many recently developed smartphones have a continuous shooting function and display continuously-shot still images at desired (and/or alternatively predetermined) intervals for a user when the user selects continuous shooting. The still images need to be temporarily stored until the user selects one of the still images that have been displayed. When the still images are temporarily stored, a smartphone may use a JPEG image compression method using only intra-frame compression. However, the size of an image compressed using the JPEG image compression method is large, which in turn increases the cost of memory.
In order to overcome this problem, intra-frame compression may be used for an initial still image and inter-frame compression may be used for the subsequent still images. Such image compression method increases a compression rate as compared to the JPEG image compression method but makes it difficult to perform a random access with respect to a particular frame among the still images.